Hello, and welcome to Mormon Stories.

I'm Jane Larson-C. Wright, and it's my privilege to introduce this special episode.

One of the main lessons that John Dilling teaches the people who work with him on Mormon

stories is that we are not the story.

Our guests, our history, our faith, our community, those are the story, our job is to get out

of the way.

But John's work with Mormon Stories is one of the major stories in our generation of

Mormonism.

As I record these words, the podcast has existed for a decade.

It has covered dozens of topics, featured hundreds of guests reached thousands upon thousands

of listeners.

The voices that John amplifies have changed minds, saved lives, and transformed hearts.

Yet those voices, together with John's activism on behalf of LGBT and feminist Mormons,

have become the grounds for a disciplinary council.

In a few weeks, John may be excommunicated.

This will not mark the end of John's work, or of Mormon Stories.

John isn't a prophet, and Mormon Stories is a vocation but not a priesthood calling.

So we're lucky.

John doesn't need anybody's permission to share his work with us.

Even so, this is undeniably a moment of transition, pain, and sorrow for all of us in the large

diverse community that loves Mormon Stories.

And so it is the right moment to reflect on John's work.

...